The present invention generally relates to hearing aids and, more specifically, relates to eye-mounted hearing aids.
Individuals with profound deafness or severe to profound hearing loss can find it difficult or impossible to understand and interpret sound, even with amplification. Individuals with severe or profound deafness can be reliant upon lip reading or sign language and, in some instances, can use cochlear implants to overcome their hearing impairments. Cochlear implants are surgically implantable devices that bypass much of the peripheral auditory system, including the outer, middle, and inner ear, and interact directly with the central auditory system. Such implants can detect sound through a microphone appended outside of the ear, convert the sound into patterns of electrical pulses, and transmit those pulses to electrodes in the cochlea where an auditory nerve can detect the signals.
When the auditory nerve transmits the detected signals to the brain, the brain can recognize the signals as sound. Thus, cochlear implants can enable persons that are naturally unable to hear to perceive and understand sound. However, cochlear implants can be costly and invasive. For example, cochlear implants, by design, include components internal and external to the ear and, thus, can involve surgical implantation.
Non-invasive hearing aids can in some instances be preferred over surgically implanted devices because they can provide more comfort and less risk of adverse outcomes to a user. Moreover, avoiding surgery can reduce costs associated with treatment.
The cornea of the eye is a highly sensitive area of the body. The cornea contains a high density of mechanoreceptors that can transmit signals to the brain when, for example, the receptors detect contact of a surface the eye or a change in the nature of contact with the surface of the eye.